Register-operating mechanism



R.. E.. K1MBALL.

REGISTER OPERATING. MECHANISM.

APPLICAI'ION FILED SEPT. 8. m9.

1 ,423,333 Patented July 18, 1922.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

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REGISTER OPERATING, MECHANISM.

APPLICAHON FILED SEPT. 8, 1919.

1,423,333, Patented July 18,1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I111) sir/Z 7 UNITED STATES PATENT omen.

nonnnr E. KIMBALL, or CLEVELAND, omo, ASSIGNOR T0. rim 'rroxoirnzrnn- COMPANY, or CLEVELAND, 01110, A oonroimrro'n or 01110;

mersrnn-ornnn'rme mncnnnism.

Specification of Letters Patent. P te t July 1 ,'192 2 Original application filed October 22,- 1915, Serial No. 57,285. Divided and this application filed Sepand useful Improvement in vBegister-Openating Mechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This lnv'entlon relates to a register operatmg mechanism for a counter or counter.

' and stacker for-street railway transfers,

tickets, and the like, and is a division of my prior application,- Serial No. 57 ,285,

. filed October 22, 1915.

More particularly the invention relates to an escapement mechanismcontrolled the transfers or other devices as they are pass ing through the machine, said mechanismpermitting for each device to be counted a predetermined movement, such as a half:

revolution, to be impartedto a shaft which operates-the register. Further the invention relates to the driving mechanism, between this escapement controlled intermittently actuated shaft and the register;

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a register operating mechanism including the ,escapement and the driving mechanism proper, which will admit of high speed'of operation without any ham-' mering of gears incident to the'starting and stopping of the driving mechanism. Further the invention aims to provide a mechanism for the purpose stated,.which is accurate, efficient .and durable.

The invention may-be briefly summarized as consisting in .certain novel details of construction, and combinations and arrangements of parts which will be described in the specification and set forth in the appended claims. In the accompanying sheets of drawings in which I have shown'an embodiment of the invention which operateswith high efng' the line of Fig. 2,

tember s, 1919. Serial No. 322,369. I 5

looking in the direction indicated by the arrows; and Fig. 5 is a sectional View substantially along the line 5 ---5 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

The machine includes a stacker through which the transfers, tickets, and the like (for convenience hereinafter referred to as tion of. which the present invention is involved. The stackrincludes a pair of parallel side plates 10 from, and between which,

:transfers) are fed, as well as the register 1 WhlCh does the counting, andin the operathe inajor part of the operating mechanism 1 thereof is supported. At one'end of the stacker there is an inclined table or platform 11, upon which isad apted to be placed a pack of the transfers with their edges abutting the table 11 and pressed yieldingly toward the feed rolls by a follower 12. At the top of the table is located a pair of feed -.rolls 15 which engage the foremost transfer of the pack and feed the transfersdownward so that they pass, one at a time, be-

tween rolls 16 and the edge of the table. j The rolls 15 are mounted on a shaft 18, and

the rolls 16 are supported on a parallel shaft- 19, both shafts being suitably supported in the fram'e'of the machine.

The transfers are fed downwardly and forwardly between the rolls 16 anda pivoted shoe 20 which with the co-operation of other parts, fully described in my'prior or parent application, isinstrumental in stop ing the feeding action of the rolls 15 and .16 i

more than one transfer is fed at the same ime between the rolls 16 and the shoe.

The "transfers are then fed down along a platform 21 hetween upper and lower rolls 22. and 23, then between upper and lower rolls 24. and 25, and-then onto a series ofrotating stacker rolls 26, thetransfers beng fed, one at a time, to the bottom of thestackwhich is formed under anfilshapB stacker member 27, slidingly md'iinted on f i. an lnclined plate 27 (see Fig. 1)., The

rolls 23, 25'and'26 are mounted on parallel driving shafts 28; 29 and 30, while the smaller-upper rolls 22 and 24 are friction' rolls and are driven byfc'ontacting withthe rollsv 23 and 25, these friction rollsbeing' yieldingly supported on. a bar 31 which extends between .the side plates of the frame and is preferably hinged atone end so that it may be swung upwardly, as more fully ex lained in my prior application.

ower may be applied to drive the several shafts referred to, and other parts to be subsequently explained, in any suitable manner,-

rolls 16. This gear 38 through the instrumentality of the clutch 39, drives the shaft 19 when the transfers feed properly, one at a time, through the machine, but when two or more transfers pass at the same time between the rolls 16 and the pivoted shoe 20, a brake, or locking'device 40 is released so as to engage a disk 41 on the shaft 19, and thus stop its rotation, the member 40 being released by the movement of the shoe 20, as fully explained in my prior application. The shaft 19 carrying the relatively large feed rolls 16, drives the shaft 18 carrying the relatively small feed rolls 15 through a counter-shaft and suitable train of gears which may be designated by character 41*, and the three shafts 28, 29 and 30 carrying the feed rolls 23 and 25, and the.

stacker rolls 26 are driven from thegear 37 by gearing which may be designated as 'a whole by the reference character 41".

As the parts so far described, do not directly involve the invention, tion of them is thought to be unnecessary since these parts are fully described in the parent application. It will be sufficient to state that with this stacker mechanism the transfers are fed rapidly through the machine from the feeding platform 11 onto the I stacker rolls.

In conjunction with the feeding and stacking mechanism I employ a counter or register 42vwhic-h is supported at the side of the machine opposite to that having the driving pulley and transmitting gearing. This register is preferably a set-back register of novel construction and constitutes the subject matter of a separate application, Serial No. 57,284, filed October 22, 1915.

On a shaft 43 extending between the register and the stacking machine. proper, there is a toothed driving wheel 44 which is intermittently but positively rotated by a pair of pins 45 which are carried by a shaft 46, each half revolution of which turns the toothed wheel through an arc equal to the distance tween two adjacent teeth. It may be here stated that this particular driving means between the shaft 4.6 and the toothed wheel 44 constitutes animportant part of this invention, and is of considerable importance for the reason that at the start and stop of each half revolution of the shaft 46 the two the reference further. descripposite finger in pins 45 have a substantially tangential sliding action on the teeth of the wheel 44, so that the toothed wheel 44 and the shaft 43 -which it drives are started and stopped slowly even though the intermittent drivin impulses which are given to. the shaft 43 are extremely rap vents banging or hammering of the co-operating gears of the register and permits the use of a simple form of carrying mechanism in the register.

An escapement mechanism controlled and operated by the transfers as they are fed through the machine causes intermittent driving engagement between the shaft 46 and a continuously driven counter-shaft 47 (see Fig. 2) which is driven by gears 47 from the shaft 35 to which the driving pulley 36 is attached, as previously described. On the inner end of the shaft 47 there is a toothed gear48, and on the inner end of the intermittently operated shaft 46 there is a gear 49 which may be termed a flat gear as it is provided at two diametrically opposite points with flat or untoothed portions 49 (see particularly Figs. 3 and 4). When either flat surface 49 is opposite the teeth of the gear 48 the fiat gear 49 is stationary, but if the latter is turned a predetermined amount, so as to cause the teeth thereof to'be brought into driving engagement with the teeth of the driving gear 48, the said flat gear 49 will be rotated through a half revolution.

This flat gear is turned sufiiciently to bring its teeth into driving engagement with the teeth of gear 48 by each transfer as it lpasses through the machine. This is accomplished by a pair of fingers 50 which are diametrically opposite each other or 180 degrees apart, and which are secured to the inner end of the shaft 46 adjacent the flat gear 49, so that' after each half revolution of flat gear 49 one of the fingers projects up into the path of movement of, the transfer as it is fed between the rolls 22 and 23. Each transfer in passing between the rolls engages and shifts one of the fingers 50, causing driving engagement between the gears 48 and 49, and this causes the gear 49 to be turned through a half revolution, bringing the opposition to be engaged by the next transfer, and this action is repeated for every transfer fed through the machine. For the purpose of preventing the gear 49 and the shaft '46 being turned through more than one-half'revolu-tion per transfer fed through the machine, there is provided a rocking prong or yoke having a pair of. upstanding fingers 60 and 60, said yoke being mounted upon a pin 61 and substantially straddling the shaft 46 upon which the ear 49 is mounted, as shown particularly in *igs. 3 and'4. The 11 per end of one of these two fingers 6O -oft e yokeis adaptid. This driving feature preed to be engaged at each half revolution of the shaft 46 by one of a pair of stop lugs or projections 62 which project at diametrically opposite points from a short sleeve which is secured onto the shaft 46 alongside the flat gear 49. This yoke tends at all times to swing .to a position such that the upper end of the forward finger 60 will be just beyond the path of movement of one of these lugs or projections, being given this tendency by ,theaction of a pair of friction disks 63, such as leather pressed by a spring 63 against a disk 64 loosely mounted on shaft 35 (see particularly. Figs. 2, 3 and 4). This disk 64 is connected by a link 65 to an arm 66 projecting from the lower part of the yoke 60. However, just before the completion of the half revolution of the shaft 46 and fiat gear 49, one of the lugs 62 engages the rear finger 60 of the yoke, rocking it so that the forward finger 60 is moved into the path of movement of the opposite lug 62 so as to prevent the flat roll and fingers 50 overrunning, whereupon, by the friction ofthe disk 64, the yoke is rocked again to its normal position, permitting the further half ro-' tation of the fiat gear 49, when the escapement mechanism is operated by the next transfer, and this is repeated as long asthe transfers are fed through the machine.

It may be noted at this point that the inner end of the shaft 47, supporting the gear 48, is mounted on an arm 67 which is pivotally mounted on a pin 68 and is pressed yieldingly toward the flat gear 49 by a coil spring 69. This construction minimizes shock as the teeth of the gears 48 and 49 come into engagement. The forward movement of the arm 67 and gear 48 may be limited in any suitable manner such'as byv means of a'pin 67 This escapement mechanism is such that transfers can be. fed extremely rapidly through the machine, the register being accurate at a rate as high as from 30 to 50 per second. Thus with this escapement mechanism, notwithstanding the high rate of feed of the, ransfers, the intermittent register driving shaft is given a half revolution and then stopped on the passage of each transfer through the machine, and despite the fact that the register operating shaft may be given these intermittent movements at a high rate of speed, and must of necessity be started and stopped quickly, the register shaft 43 though given a predetermined movement at every half revolution of the operating shaft 46 is, nevertheless, started and stopped slowly enough to cause smooth operation of the register and to avoid the hammering of the register gears. Furthermore, notwithstanding the fact that the escap'ament is controlled by as flexible an object as a thin paper railway transfer,

means for feeding the devices one at a time therethrough, a shaft for operating a regis-' ter for counting the devices as they are fed through the machine, means foroperating the shaft including a continuously rotating member and a second rotary member engageable with but normally disengaged-from the first, and means controlled by the movement 7 of the devices from the support for causing direct intermittent driving engagement between said continuously rotating member and said second rotary member.

2. In combination in a machine for count- I ing transfers, tickets and similar devices having feeding mechanism for feeding the devices one at a time therethrough, a shaft for operating a counting register, and means con rolled successively by the different devices passing through the machine for causing said shaft to be operated, said means comprising a continuously rotating gear and a gear member mounted on said shaft andadapted to be broughtinto temporary engagement with the continuously rotating gear by each of the devices to be counted,

3. In combination in a machine for counting transfers, tickets and similar devices having feeding mechanism for feeding the devices one at a time through the machine, a shaft for operating a counting register, and means controlled successively by the different devices passing through the machine for causing said shaft to be operated, said means llcomprising a continuously rotating member said shaft, and brought into temporary engagement with said continuously'rotatin member by each device to be counted, an means for preventing more than a predetermined movement being imparted to said sec- I and means controlled successively by the different devices passing through the machine for causing said shaft to be operated, said means comprising a continuously rotating gear, and an'escapement comprising a gear-mounted on 'said shaft and'having toothed and plain portions, and means whereby as each of said devices to be counted thereof is shifted into-engagement with the continuously rotating gear causing the former to be rotated a half revolution.

nevertheless anaccuratecountof the trans- 5. In combination in a machine for count- 130 105 and an intermittently rotating member on passes the second gear a toothed portion ing transfers, tickets and similar devices having feeding mechanism for feeding the devices one at a time through the machine, a register, a shaft for operating the register,

- and means controlled successivelyby the different devices passing through the machine for causing'said shaft to be operated, said means comprising a continuously rotating gear, and an escapement comprising a gear mounted on said shaft and having toothed and plain portions, means whereby as each of said devices to be counted passes the second gear a toothed portion thereof is shifted into engagement with the continuously rotating gear causing the former to be rotated, and a stop associated with said second gear for preventing more than a predetermined movement each time it is actuated.

6. In combination in a machine for counting transfers, tickets or similar devices having feeding mechanism for feeding the devices along a given path, a register associated with said feeding mechanism, driving means for said register including a toothed wheel, an intermittently operated shaft having means which at each half revolution of the shaft turns the toothed wheel through one step of movement, said means engaging on the teeth of said wheel in such a manner that said toothed Wheel -is started and stopped slowly, and means for positivel and intermittently turning said shaft, each movement being a half revolution in extent, and means controlled by the devices as they are fed through the machine for causing intermittent driving engagement between said shaft and its driving means.

7. In combination in a machine for counting transfers, tickets or similar devices having feeding mechanism for feeding the devices along a given path, a register associated with said feeding mechanism, driving means for said register including a toothed wheel, an intermittently operated shaft having means which at each half revolution of the shaft turns the toothed wheel through one step of movement, said means engaging on the teeth of said wheel insuch a manner that said toothed wheel is started and stopped slowly, means for intermittently driving said shaft, and means controlled by the devices as they are fed through the machine for causing intermittent driving engagement between said shaft and its driving means.

8. In a machine for counting transfers, tickets or similar devices having means including a rotary member for advancing said devices through themachine, a register, a rotary member for actuating said register and means controlled by the movement of said devices for shifting said second rotary member into engagement with said first rotary member.

9. In a machine for counting transfers, tickets or similar devices having means for advancing said devices through the machine, a register, means for actuating said register including a continuously rotating gear and a mutilated gear adapted to mesh therewith, means for automatically stopping said mutilated gear when the interrupted portion thereof is presented to said first mentioned gear, and means controlled by the movement of said devices through the machine for imparting in initial rotative movement to said mutilated gear to cause the teeth thereof to engage said first mentioned gear.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afiix my my signature.

ROBERT E. KIMBALL. 

